


The Fighter

by akimikono



Series: RWBY One Shots [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Body Dysphoria, Dismemberment, Flashbacks, Gen, Minor Violence, Physical Disability, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Vytal Festival, Yang's Missing Arm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:07:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22685998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akimikono/pseuds/akimikono
Summary: Yang reflects back on the Vytal Festival and when she lost her arm, and Tai wants to help her move past it.
Relationships: Taiyang Xiao Long & Yang Xiao Long
Series: RWBY One Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1631917
Kudos: 8





	The Fighter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gotham Girl Yang](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Gotham+Girl+Yang).



> Hey! This was originally posted on the RWBY Amino app by me. If you are interested in commissioning a fanfic featuring your favorite character, OTP, team, OC, or yourself, then please message me!

The accident wasn’t her fault. In fact, it wasn’t even an accident. Emerald’s Semblance combined — that is, _perfectly executed_ — with Mercury’s robotic legs pulled one hell of a traumatic experience on Yang and the rest of the arena at the Vytal Festival. Cinder was the one pulling the strings, hiding behind the curtain, pretending to be just another student in the audience watching the fights. Truly, Cinder _did_ want a fight — just not on the stage under the lights and cameras, supervised and monitored by teachers who would stop anyone who got too out of hand. Cinder wanted a _real_ fight. A fight between the foolish people who followed the cowardly Ozpin, and the people whose eyes were open wide and knew that the only way to win was to follow the _winner_. 

  
Still, the clip played over and over in her mind and Yang felt as if her mind was as mechanical as her arm. Mercury lying helpless (or so she thought) on the ground and herself throwing a blast of energy into his leg. The crunching sound of bone — later discovered to be metal — echoed in her ears. 

  
_Why’d she attack me?_ Mercury’s desperation was as fake as his limbs but it still haunted her. She hadn’t attacked him, but it sure seemed like she did when a 50-foot-tall version of herself was shown on the Vytal Festival arena screens, nonchalantly breaking Mercury’s leg in front of the tens of thousands of visitors. 

  
She could blame Emerald all she wanted; she was the one who cast the illusion over everyone, after all. Blame Cinder, since she seemed to be the one giving instructions to her underlings. Blame Mercury for going along with it and for provoking her. Of course she would defend herself if an enemy attacked her when her back was turned! But really, she blamed herself. Her temper, hotheadedness, short fuse, and quick reflexes were such an awful combination that she had had multiple conversations about how unhealthy it was to rely on them. Her own father had told her not to rely so much on her anger to fuel her Semblance. 

  
How could she not? Where else was she supposed to channel her otherwise unbridled rage? If she couldn’t use her emotions to power herself up during a fight, then what was the point? 

  
Yang flexed the fingers of her mechanical arm. It was her anger that had put her in this position. A reckless knee-jerk reaction to seeing her friend in danger had put her right in the way of a very dangerous man with a very sharp blade. Her missing arm would always be a reminder of how her impulsiveness would always get her, and others, hurt. 

  
A knock at her bedroom door pulled her from her thoughts and she looked up, trying to focus her mind on the person standing in her doorway. 

  
“You ready to do some training?” 

  
“Yeah, Dad. I’ll be right there.” 

  
Tai watched her for a moment before leaving the room and descending down the stairs. Yang pulled herself off the bed and over to the desk in the corner. She rummaged through the drawer and pulled out the wrinkled poster for the Vytal Festival she had collected for Ruby’s scrapbook. It seemed like a grim reminder of what had happened and what was to come. She would never be the girl she was before that festival, and she wasn’t sure how that felt yet. Crushing the poster in her fist, she tossed it into the trash bin and threw open the bedroom window. Peering out into the garden she spotted her father stretching by one of the large oak trees in the yard. 

  
“Hey!” 

  
Tai looked to the window and shaded his eyes with his hand. 

  
“Bet you can’t block my punches when they’re backed by solid Atlesian metal!” She flexed in the window, her prosthetic glinting in the sunlight. 

  
“I’ve been able to do it before, Yang. Atlesian technology doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t know how to use it.” 

  
“Oh, I’ve been practicing. Why do you think Ruby refuses to train with me anymore?” 

  
Tai huffed a laugh through his nose. “Guess you’ll just have to come out here and show me.” 

  
Yang balled her hands into fists and managed a grin. “You better be ready to get your butt kicked, Dad.” 

  
“Big talk for someone who hasn’t beaten me in months.” He motioned for her to join him outside. 

  
Yang slammed her fists together and for a brief moment, her eyes glinted a pale shade of red before returning to their natural violet. She turned and ran down the stairs to the garden. 


End file.
